DENNIS LENNOX: Michigan will be a battleground state once again

Michigan is once again shaping up to be a major player in each party’s nominating contest for the 2016 presidential campaign.

While Democratic candidates have won the Wolverine State’s Electoral College votes in the last six general elections, the demographics and sheer size of the state make it a battleground during the primaries.

Though Biden would conceivably bow out in favor of Clinton, her nomination isn’t a given and she would likely face a vigorous challenge from a youngish Democratic politician — perhaps someone such as Martin O’Malley, the governor of Maryland.

On the Republican side, there will easily be a half-dozen or more candidates competing in the three-ring circus that has become the GOP primaries of the past two presidential election campaigns.

Santorum, whose appearance at a high school in Grosse Pointe made headlines after the school’s principal initially canceled the event over objections to the former Pennsylvania senator’s social conservatism, is hoping the GOP’s long-standing tradition of nominating the runner-up or also-rans from the last time around holds true in 2016.

Haley is an interesting name not because South Carolina brings with it much influence in the general election, but rather because she’s an Indian-American. She’s also a woman and as such would neutralize any tactical advantage the Democrats might have with Clinton atop the party’s ticket.

Other names sure to make a run include two senators: Marco Rubio of Florida and Kentucky’s Rand Paul, son of the perennial candidate Ron Paul.

It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where Rubio doesn’t run.

The A-list politician, who would have to seek re-election to the Senate if he chose not to run for president, is doing everything — and then some — that an all-but-declared candidate does in the lead up to making it official.

Though he holds much of the same positions as his father, Paul the Younger is a much better politician, who can appeal to those outside the small, but vocal, libertarian wing of the Republican Party. In short: The son is careful to avoid the lunacy that often plagued Paul the Elder.

Of course, there are many other names — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — who could run, though it’s tough to see a path for them at this time.

The field of presidential hopefuls will become clearer in September when the Michigan Republican Party hosts the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

The biennial confab usually attracts the big names, which use it as an opportunity to test the waters and build support, in some cases from scratch, with the GOP grandees and foot soldiers.

The conference is critical because only Paul and Santorum have any sort of national base, which means all of the others will have to grow or buy their support.